Consolidated list of provisions of the Resolutions of the House relating to expenditure charged to the Estimate for House of Commons: Members - Members Estimate Committee Contents

11  Miscellaneous

GENERAL SERVICES BUDGET

11.1. Central funding by way of a General Services Budget should provide for—

a)  Relevant training of Members and Members' staff in connection with their parliamentary duties;

b)  Any appropriate insurance provision;

c)  Any additional reimbursement of exceptional expenses incurred by Members who have constituencies with particular problems;

d)  Reasonable adjustments to the working conditions and equipment of Members with particular needs because of disability, and for necessary additional continuing costs;

e)  Any additional payments to Members in respect of safety precautions to safeguard their staff, their office equipment and themselves, where such safety precautions have been recommended by the police; and

f)  Other appropriate expenditure within the ambit of the Vote, under the authority of the Speaker. (5 July 2001)

INSURANCE

11.2. Provision should be made for the insurance of Members in relation to the performance of their duties as Members under arrangements (including financial limits to the cover provided) made from time to time with the approval of the Leader of the House and the Speaker. (23 May 2000)

11.3. Subject to the terms and conditions of any policy effected under the approved arrangements, the insurance for which provision is made as set out at paragraph 11.2 above may cover the following:

a)  Travel;

b)  Personal accident;

c)  Personal accident in respect of employees of Members;

d)  Employers' liability and public liability; and

e)  The cost of defending a civil claim for defamation and of payment in respect of any award made by a court in such a claim, where the act complained of was not covered by parliamentary privilege but arose from a Member's duty as a Member. (23 May 2000)

11.4. Arrangements made for insurance of the type referred to at paragraphs 11.1 and 11.2 above may provide for the spouses or civil partners of Members to be covered as well as the Members themselves. (23 May 2000)

IT PROVISION

11.5. Specific financial provision should be made for the supply and maintenance of a standard package of Information Technology equipment and services for each Member to be used exclusively in discharging their duties as Members. In line with recommendations of the Report of the Review Body on Senior Salaries laid before Parliament on 21 October 2004, each Member should have access to—

a)  one fixed workstation and one laptop for his or her own use, plus three further workstations,[19] so that each full-time equivalent member of staff paid for through the Staffing Allowance has his or her own PC; and

b)  a heavy-duty printer in both Westminster and the constituency;

the level and range of IT support offered to constituency offices to be comparable with that offered on the Parliamentary Estate. (5 July 2001; 3 November 2004)

RECALL OF THE HOUSE DURING A RECESS

11.6. With respect to any occasion on which, during a recess, this House is recalled before the expected end of the recess,[20] Members who attend the House during the recall should be reimbursed[21] in respect of such extra costs[22] which are wholly and exclusively attributable to the recall as are necessarily incurred by them in connection with travelling—

a)  From any place to London, and

b)  During any further recess immediately following the recall, from London to any place (provided that the purpose is to fulfil, before the expected end of that further recess, plans which were in existence before the recall). (13 July 1994)

PRIVATE MEMBERS' BILLS

11.7. Provision should be made for the payment to each of the Members who shall have secured the first ten places in the ballot for Private Members' Bills of not more than £200 towards the cost of drafting assistance for such bills. (29 November 1971)

MEMBERS WHO HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO TAKE THEIR SEATS

11.8. Those Members who have chosen not to take their seats and thus do not qualify to participate in the proceedings in Parliament may use the facilities within the precincts of the House and the services of departments of the House, and may claim support for their own costs and the allowances relating to travel within the United Kingdom for Members, their families and staff. (18 December 2001)

TIME LIMIT ON EXPENSES CLAIMS

11.9. A claim by a Member for expenses, or for any allowance in respect of expenses, should be submitted within a period of two months after the end of the allowances year in which the relevant expenses have been incurred. (20 December 1971; MEC, 9 February 2004)

MEMBERS ESTIMATE COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE ON MEMBERS' ALLOWANCES

11.10. There shall be a Committee of the House, called the House of Commons Members Estimate Committee. The Members of the House of Commons Members Estimate Committee shall be those Members who are at any time members of the House of Commons Commission pursuant to section 1 of the House of Commons (Administration) Act 1978; the Speaker shall be chairman of the Committee and three shall be the quorum of the Committee. (29 January 2004)

11.11. The functions of the Committee shall be—

a)  to codify and keep under review the provisions of the Resolutions of this House relating to expenditure charged to the Estimate for House of Commons: Members;

b)  to modify those provisions from time to time as the committee may think necessary or desirable in the interests of clarity, consistency, accountability and effective administration, and conformity with current circumstances;

c)  to provide advice, when requested by the Speaker, on the application of those provisions in individual cases;

d)  to carry out the responsibilities conferred on the Speaker by the Resolution of the House of 5 July 2001 relating to Members' Allowances, Insurance, &c[23];

e)  to consider appeals against determinations made by the Committee on Members' Allowances under paragraph 11.14 below (29 January 2004; 3 March 2009).

11.12. The provision set out at paragraph 11.11 above does not empower the Committee—

a)  to create a new form of charge on the Estimate for the House of Commons: Members; or

b)  to increase any rate of charge or payment determined by Resolution of the House. (29 January 2004)

11.13. The Committee shall report to the House from time to time, and in any case not less than once a year, the provisions of the Resolutions of the House relating to expenditure charged to the Estimate for House of Commons: Members, as codified and modified pursuant to the provisions set out at paragraph 11.11 above. (29 January 2004)

11.14. There shall be a select committee, called the Committee on Members' Allowances

a)  to advise the House of Commons Members Estimate Committee on the discharge of its functions;

b)  to advise the Speaker, the Members Estimate Committee and the Leader of the House on the potential development of the arrangements made by or under the Resolutions in force from time to time regarding Members' allowances &c;

c)  to approve practice notes to be used in administering Members' allowances which may be issued by the House; and

d)  to determine (subject to any appeal to the Members Estimate Committee) the application of the rules in such individual cases as may be referred to them by hon Members, in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Committee.

The Committee shall consist of eight Members. (10 February 2009; 3 March 2009)

---

19   Up to two workstations may be substituted by an equivalent number of laptops. (MEC, 27 February 2006). Back

20   'Recess' refers not only to a period when Parliament stands prorogued to a specified date but also to any period when the House stands adjourned to a specified date, and the references to the expected end of a recess are references to that specified date. Back

21   Reimbursement comprises payment to the Member of the amount of the extra costs concerned and the payment to HM Revenue and Customs, on account of the income tax liability of the Member, of the difference between that amount and such sum as, after deduction of tax at the marginal rate applicable to the Member, is equal to that amount. Back

22   Costs in respect of which the Member cannot be otherwise reimbursed. Back

23   The Resolution was amended on 22 January 2009 by leaving out paragraph (5), relating to an Advisory Panel. Back

---

Prepared 1 April 2009